Prescription drug abuse now more deadly than heroin and cocaine combined - ▻http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/08/prescription-drug-abuse-now-more-deadly-than-heroin-and-cocaine-combined
Prescription-drug overdose rates are highest in the poorest regions of the US: Appalachia and the Southwest. West Virginia has the highest rate, at 28.9 deaths per every 100,000 people – a 605 percent increase since 1999. Following close behind are New Mexico, Kentucky, Nevada, and Oklahoma.
Rates are lowest in the Midwest. North Dakota has the lowest rate of prescription drug overdose deaths, at 3.4 per every 100,000 people.
The most common misused prescription drugs are painkillers [#opiacés] (such as OxyContin, Percocet, and Vicodin), depressants such as sedatives, and stimulants used to treat narcolepsy and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). While men age 25 to 54 are most likely to abuse these drugs, rates among female abusers are accelerating. Since 1999, overdose deaths have increased 400 percent among women compared with 265 percent among men.